University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection of the History of Quantum Mechanics and the Theory of Relativity 1911-1995

Descriptive Summary

Plotnick, Harvey B. Collection of the History of Quantum Mechanics and the Theory of Relativity

Dates:

1911-1995

Size:

1 linear ft. (2 boxes)

Repository:

Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

This collection contains documents concerning the history of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. The manuscripts consist mainly of drafts of papers and lecture notes, correspondence, class notes, and syllabi. They span the period from 1911-1995.

Information on Use

Access

The collection is open for research..

Citation

When quoting material from
this collection, the preferred citation is: Plotnick, Harvey B. Collection of the History of Quantum Mechanics and the Theory of Relativity, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

Harvey Plotnick was born in Chicago. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1963 with a Bachelor’s degree in Literature. In 1967, Plotnick founded and became President and Chief Executive Officer of Contemporary Books, Inc., a publisher of nonfiction trade books. The company became one of the nation’s largest publishers of adult basic-education instructional materials. Several memoirs and fictions, including Loretta Lynn’s Coal Miner’s Daughter and Sybil, the story of a woman with multiple personalities, have also been published by Contemporary Books Inc. The company was acquired by the Tribune Company in 1993, and then became part of McGraw-Hill Company. Plotnick was made chief executive officer responsible for educational publishing activities in the Tribune Company. Plotnick’s book of his own poems, ‘Notes of a Refugee,’ was published by Mellen Poetry Press in 1992.

Plotnick was also an active alum of the University of Chicago. He served on the Alumni Award committee from 1991-1992 and joined the University’s Board of Trustees in 1994. Since then, he has chaired a number of its manor fundraising campaigns, including the $650 million Campaign for the Next Century, which ended in 1996. He chairs the College and Student Activities Visiting Committee and has been a member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Governors and Chair of the College Visiting Committee. He and his wife endowed the Elizabeth and Harvey Plotnick Scholarship fund for undergraduate students, as well as a fund for graduate students in the Physical Sciences at the University.

Plotnick’s interests also extend to the physical sciences. He became a member of Argonne’s Board of Governors in 2001 and for decades collected rare, first-edition books on physics, as well as master drawings and prints. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Chicago and have four children.

Scope Note

This collection contains documents concerning the history of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. They were first collected as part of the Harvey Plotnick Library, the first extensive library of manuscripts and printed documents formed by a private collector on the development of quantum physics and the theory of relativity. The library was intended the document the development of quantum physics and relativity theory through manuscripts, letters, and original printings of the highest historical value through their documentation of the actual practice of science.

The manuscripts consist mainly of drafts of papers and lecture notes, correspondence, class notes, and syllabi gathered from scientists’ papers. They span the period from 1911-1995.

Many of the items contain handwritten notes and autographs by notable scientists. One set of the class notes was taken in a 1939 course on Quantum Mechanics taught by Robert J. Oppenheimer, a physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. The collection also contains three early papers by Arnold Sommerfeld (1868-1951), professor of mathemetics and theoretical physics at Gottingen, Clausthal, Aachen, and Munich.

Related Resources

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:

Grosse, Aristid V., Nier, Alfred O.C., Dunning, John R., Booth, E.T., Weil, George L., and Blizard, Everitt P. "A Collection of Documents Detailing the Experiments and Ultimate Construction of a Nuclear Reactor, including the Discovery Document for a Patent Application for a Nuclear Pile Produced by the Uranium Committee of Columbia University, dated Nov. 2 1940."